Note 49 — PART IV. NOTICES OF AUTHORS RELATIVE TO TIMBER. (continued 2)

We think Sir Henry would find some of the failures of which he owns he cannot well ascertain the cause, but occurring especially in beech and oak, to be owing to a number of the lower roots, which are by far the tenderest, being bruised by the weight of the tree itself, when he turns it repeatedly over from the one side to the other, in order, by throwing in earth beneath it, to raise the root on a level with the surface of the field, the whole weight of the incumbent mass resting upon these soft roots. The oak, and still more the beech, are exceedingly susceptible to injury from cutting or bruises, and die far inward from the laceration. The wounded lower roots, especially when any vacuity is left not filled close in with earth, where mouldiness might generate in a dry situation, or when soaking in moisture for a part of the season, will become corrupted; the putrefaction thence gradually extending upward into the bulb, will contaminate the whole, and the second or third year after planting, the tree will be dead.